Ghana's Stock Exchange launched it's real-time data stream on Thomson Reuters on Wednesday (July 28) with hopes of increasing equity trading opportunities for local and global clients in a market seen as one of Africa's most promising.
Ghana is the latest African exchange that Thomson Reuters has switched to real time data, following Kenya and Nigeria.
The introduction of real-time market data for investors and traders using Reuters 3000 Xtra includes the bid and ask price, volumes, latest trades and market depth information.
"Our partnership will elevate the importance of Ghana not only to Ghanaians in terms of our news coverage -- informing the World of the power and abilities of this great country, but also for the rest of Africa to its opportunity to participate in the growth of the economy and the rest of the World to understand that albeit we are referred to as the dark continent, we are an enlightened people," said Thomson Reuters's Africa Manager, Busisa Jiya at the launch in Accra.
Investors have become increasingly interested in the gold, cocoa and soon-to-be oil producing nation, which in 2007 became the first African country outside South Africa to issue a Eurobond. However, the country's stock exchange is notoriously illiquid.
Daily turnover often slips to no more than a few thousand dollars.
"If global investors are coming into the place via live trade feed via Reuters then certainly efficiency is on the way up there. We believe that ultimately we will also achieve the objective of liquidity because more global investors are attracted via the live feed, who also will bring more liquidity to the market place," said Kofi Yamoah, managing director of the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE).
"For Ghanaian investors and mind you, Ghanaian investors are both retail investors and institutional, as many of these institutional investors have access to Reuters and therefore if you bring our live feed into the Reuters platform it becomes access unto them as well," said Yamoah.
He added that the move would attract more members to the GSE looking for wider, robust equity trading market.
"Into the next year and medium term we expect to see a many more of the banks, many more of the insurance companies, may more of other sectors that are not represented on this market particularly mining and other issues," he said.
The largest member of the exchange is gold producer AngloGold Ashanti, which has its main market listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Other GSE-listed firms include the local operations of bank Standard Chartered, consumer goods firm Unilever and brewer Guinness. Its most recent joiner was microfinance house UT Financial, which began trading in late 2008.
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